Barcelona were left with a huge mountain to climb in the second leg of their quarterfinals tie of the UEFA Champions League against Juventus after the Catalans were beaten by the Italian giants 3-0 at the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night.
Paulo Dybala put the home team ahead as early as in the seventh minute, with a lovely curled effort from within the box, after some serious pressure early in the game. The Argentine then made it two with another sublime finish halfway through the first-half, seconds after Gianluigi Buffon had been forced into a brilliant save by Andres Iniesta.
Barcelona began the second-half much stronger and looked menacing in the early stages of the second period. However, things were to get much worse for them as defender Giorgio Chiellini headed home from a corner in the 55th minute to make it 3-0.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side absorbed an enormous amount of late pressure, with Luis Suarez missing a gilt-edged opportunity. Barcelona could not break through in pursuit of the away goal though and will now be forced to pull off a comeback similar to their win over PSG at the Camp Nou in the previous round.
Here is how the Barcelona players fared on the night:
Barcelona Player Ratings
Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 5/10
It was a shaky performance from the German as he spilled two Gonzalo Higuain efforts into dangerous areas. Not much he could do about the opener, but was caught out for the second goal.
Gerard Pique – 5/10
Returned to the line-up but was always under pressure from Higuain. Stood too far off Dybala in the lead up to the opener. Not at fault for the rest two goals.
Samuel Umtiti – 6/10
Least to blame in the defence for Barcelona. The Frenchman showed some fight, which surprisingly was lacking in most of his teammates. Booked late in the game.
Jeremy Mathieu – 3/10
Sloppy, slow. Caught out by Juan Cuadrado leading to the opening goal. A dangerous cross aside, did nothing much. Subbed at half-time. Questionable selection.
Javier Mascherano – 3/10
Too slow at times. Lost Dybala in the lead up to the second goal. Was beaten easily at the far post by Chiellini for the third. Struggled to offer any sort of control for the Catalans in the middle of the park. Sergio Busquets was missed.
Ivan Rakitic – 4/10
Uncharacteristically an anonymous performance from the Croatian international after a recent few weeks of revival. Poor.
Andres Iniesta – 5.5/10
Made a great run to find himself at the end of Messi’s through ball but could not beat Buffon. Grew into the game in the second half, but could not help his team salvage anything. Booked.
Lionel Messi – 6/10
Tore open the defence to set Iniesta through, who was denied by the brilliance of Gigi Buffon. Did it again in the second period, but Luis Suarez spurned the opportunity. Not enough quality from set-pieces.
Sergi Roberto – 5/10
Hardly made any contribution in attack despite playing on the right-wing. Did a lot of tracking back throughout the game, but to no avail.
Luis Suarez – 4/10
Spurned a great chance late in the game to get his team an away goal going into the second leg. Never looked menacing enough. Booked early in the second half.
Neymar – 5/10
Was heavily marked by Juventus and as a result struggled to make his trademark penetrating runs from the left-flank. Quiet outing.
Substitutes
Andre Gomes – 4/10
Replaced Mathieu at the half-time. Did not fare any better than the rest of his teammates.